Archive for the ‘Shelby Automotive Museum’ tag

Before Carroll Shelby died in May 2012, he passed along his wishes for a museum that would not only carry his name, but continue to educate the general public and automotive researchers alike on his performance and racing legacy. The Shelby Automotive Museum, opening in Gardena, California, next year, will fulfill Shelby’s wish on the spot where the Texan spent the bulk of his time over the last four decades.

Plans for the 40,000-square-foot museum were revealed at a “founder’s reception” held last month in conjunction with the second annual Carroll Shelby Tribute and Car Show, in Gardena. The museum’s location is already well known to Shelby enthusiasts as the site of the Shelby engines plant, which will remain in operation alongside the museum.

Shelby’s personal automobile collection will form the backbone of the museum’s exhibits, which will feature examples of Shelby products ranging from the AC Ace-based Cobra through the Chrysler Shelbys to the latest Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. A 15-foot-tall Cobra will dominate the museum’s lobby, while a “winding road” will carry visitors from exhibit to exhibit.

Central to the museum is a 5,000-square-foot area known as “Shelby’s Snake Pit,” which will house archival documents, trophies and associated memorabilia documenting Shelby’s career as a driver turned high-performance automaker. Generally reserved for sponsors, VIPS and researchers, public access to Shelby’s Snake Pit will be granted via tours and special-access events.

The Shelby Automotive Museum is not to be confused with the Shelby Heritage Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the Las Vegas location also features vehicle displays, the trustees of the Shelby Automotive Museum refer to it as an automotive gallery, which lacks the educational resources necessary to be considered a museum.

At the founder’s reception, trustee Neil Cummings summed up the museum’s purpose by saying it would, “honor the grit, ingenuity and tenacity of everyone who was part of the Shelby story.” Ultimately, Cummings said, the museum, “should stimulate the minds of the young, inspire other visionaries and give strength to the underdog.”

Though the idea for the museum was established by the 2001 formation of a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, Shelby made it clear that plans for the facility should not begin until after his death. In the two years since his death, the primary focus has been on settling his estate and making the changes necessary to Shelby American (including a move from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to a location in proximity of the Las Vegas Strip) to ensure its long-term success. That’s not to say the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust, the group behind the museum itself, has sat idle; instead, trustees have studied a variety of similar museums to see what drives their success before initiating the design of the Shelby Automotive Museum.

In addition to its displays and research materials, the museum trustees plan to host car clubs, automotive media events and even private auctions, and in the long term they said they hope to foster relationships with other automotive museums around the world. While the building is constructed and the necessary permits have been arranged, the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust Shelby Automotive Museum still needs to raise $5 million to complete the buildout of the museum itself.